It began as a day like any other.

To the residents of Lesser Slave River, the gentle spring weather was a welcome break from the winter months. For weeks they enjoyed cloudless skies and warm, dry weather, and the beginning of May 14 was no different.

Before the day's end, however, this same weather pattern would provide the catalyst for Canada's worst natural disaster.

2011,5,14,09,00,00

An ordinary day.

With no clouds or rain in the area, the entire municipality has been dry for days. Consistently heavy winds in the 50 to 70 km/h range significantly compound the wildfire risk.Anything

2011,5,14,12,45,00

"It was incredibly windy that day. My husband and I were doing yard work when we saw the first water bomber fly over."

2011,5,14,13,00,00

The first fire is spotted.

A fire is spotted in an old logged-out area by quad riders, and moments later by an Air Attack Officer on a flyover. It's immediately reported to municipal administrators. Water bombers, ground crews and heavy equipment are dispatched to fight the blaze.Anything

2011,5,14,16,30,00

"We saw a large black cloud and we thought 'this is something we've never seen before.' And then we saw fire dropping out of the sky."

2011,5,14,17,30,00

A new fire is spotted.

A second fire is spotted from the air about eight kilometers east of Slave Lake. Some resources from the first fire are diverted to fight this fire as it approaches the communities of Mitsue and Poplar Lane. It spreads from zero to 500 hectares in less than three hours.Anything

2011,5,14,19,15,00

State of Local Emergency Declared.

The MD issues a State of Local Emergency after learning that homes in Mitsue had been destroyed. SRD and regional ground crews work throughout the night hitting spot fires, rescuing structures and back burning. SRD air attack times out and will resume in the morning.Anything

2011,5,15,12,00,00

Fires out of control.

With winds upwards of 70 km/h, both fires are now burning out of control. Fire 56 reaches its trigger point and the MD evacuates all communities west of Slave Lake. HWY 2 West closes for safe travel of evacuees, and HWY 2 East closes intermittently due to fire.Anything

2011,5,15,14,30,00

MD headquarters abandoned.

Winds change course and reach 100 km/h. Fire rages back through Mitsue, destroying more homes and heading for Slave Lake. The MD abandons its office and joins Slave Lake incident command. SRD grounds its water bombers due to high winds. HWY 2 West and HWY 88 North close.Anything

2011,5,15,16,00,00

A third fire erupts.

A third fire is spotted to the north of Slave Lake, and diminishing SRD resources are dispatched to the scene. Compared to the other two rapidly spreading fires, this blaze proves relatively easy to contain.Anything

2011,5,15,19,00,00

All roads to the region are cut off.

The fire crosses Highway 88 and is soon expected to cross Highway 2. All routes into or out of the area are completely cut off. Water and electricity begin to fail. The local radio station goes off the air. SRD, Police, Fish & Wildlife and local fire crews stand their ground.Anything

2011,5,15,21,00,00

A Level 4 Emergency is declared.

The situation is escalated to a Level Four Emergency – the highest possible designation. The Emergency Operations Centre works around the clock. They request help from the Provincial Operations Center. Neighbouring municipalities contribute available resources.Anything

2011,5,16,09,00,00

The Province rushes to assist.

SRD and local firefighters are joined by emergency personnel from across the province. As they continue to attack the wildfires, only essential Emergency Operations staff, police and firefighters remain in the area. Premier Stelmach strikes a task force to deal with the emergency.Anything

2011,5,16,16,00,00

"We could hear animals...coyotes and wolves. They were just screeching. Yelping."

2011,5,16,19,30,00

"It was so smoky. It was hard to breathe. It looked like hell."

2011,5,17,15,10,39

Fire Update

Brian McAsey, Public Information Officer for the Calgary Fire Services, provides an update at a press conference following the wildfire.Anything

2011,5,28,17,00,00

The fires are contained.

All fires in the area are classified as “Under Control.” All remaining road blocks are removed, and recovery efforts begin in earnest. Essential services have been restored, and phased re-entry
of residents begins.Anything

As the fires themselves abated, municipal workers began to assess the toll. Rather than wholesale destruction, the flames seemed to have taken an almost sentient path. Untouched homes stood next to smoldering foundations. At an auto dealership, rows of brand new vehicles sat untouched beside their gutted counterparts. Recovery of our affected communities is a process that will take years. But just months after disaster struck, progress has been remarkable.

For residents and rescue workers alike, the first days after the fire were difficult to say the least. Initially, not much was known about the status of homes and businesses. What little information the MD had acquired was withheld by higher authorities. Uncertainties arose over returning to jobs, getting kids back to school, filing insurance claims and many other post-disaster considerations. Just witnessing the charred remains of homes, parks and businesses was shocking to all.

"It broke my heart as I drove through the area. It reminded me of a graveyard in a horror movie."

Despite mounting pressure and the occasional voice of dissent, the Planning department within the Emergency Operations Center worked diligently to rebuild broken communities and get residents back home as quickly and safely as possible. A phased re-entry plan was established and persistently followed. Initially, municipal employees, RCMP, Alberta Health Services, and similar groups responsible for a community to operate were allowed to return. Essential service workers began repairing gas, power and water infrastructure. Soon afterward, essential businesses such as gas stations, grocery stores and pharmacies were able to follow. And then residents began re-entry into their communities. Some returned to their homes, and others to nothing at all.

Facts & Figures

01 On May 14, 2011, two separate fires burned within the MD. A third fire would begin the next day.

09 In total, almost 750 individuals and families in the area lost their homes.

10 The crisis was designated a level four emergency; the highest possible designation that involves a sustained government-wide response.

Voices from the Front Line

A lot happened in the first few days. Things came at us pretty fast and just didn't stop. I cannot begin to express my gratitude and pride in the resourcefulness of the MD employees and elected officials during this catastrophic event. Had we not had the strong working relationship before the fire, things could have easily run off the tracks at multiple points.

As soon as the first fire was spotted on the afternoon of May 14, the Sustainable Resource Development team (SRD) sprang into action. So too did regional firefighters, municipal workers, local businesses and the ordinary citizens of Lesser Slave River. Though these disparate groups had vastly different resources, abilities and knowledge, they worked together in pursuit of a common goal: protection of their communities.

Fanned by winds reaching 100 km/h and fueled by a bone-dry forest, the fire spread incredibly quickly. Midafternoon on day one, it was a by-the-numbers firefighting operation similar to the hundreds that SRD douse every year. But by the next day, there were two fires burning out of control and heading straight toward densely populated areas.

"It was the hottest, windiest, darkest, scariest fire I've ever been in as a firefighter. Worse than anything I could have imagined."

As bad as the situation seemed, it grew even worse. Power failed. Water supplies ran dry. Air support was grounded due to excessive winds. Radio communications went down. Key structures and apparatus were consumed by the flames. Despite this progressive worsening of the odds, heroic individuals of every stripe stayed behind to fight. The effects of the fire were devastating to say the least, but they could have been far worse were it not for the tireless efforts, quick decisions and selfless acts of firefighters, RCMP, Sustainable Resource Development, Motor Transport, Fish and Wildlife, MD Council and staff, Town Council and staff, private businesses and countless public citizens.

In the heat of battle, the course of events and responses is always fast and often confusing. Now that the smoke has cleared, the critical roles played by certain groups and individuals have become more apparent and remarkable. This section is dedicated to recognition of their contributions.

Facts & Figures

01 The total anticipated cost of the disaster from insurance claims alone hovers around $700 million.

02 The Lesser Slave river wildfires escalated quickly to a level four emergency – the highest possible designation for an environmental disaster.

03 At the height of the disaster, there were over 1,500 firefighters, 100 helicopters, 20 air tankers and a fleet of heavy machinery fighting the blaze.

04 To restore order and refocus efforts, Tom Sampson, Deputy Chief of CEMA, declares Slave Lake a dry town for the duration of the crisis.

07 By midafternoon on May 15, the sun was completely blocked out by smoke and is not seen again until the following morning.

08 56 homes were destroyed in the MD of Lesser Slave River and an additional 56 structures were heavily damaged.

09 In total, more than 400 homes in the region were destroyed, including six apartment complexes.

10 Though there were no casualties as a direct result of the fires, pilot Jean-Luc Deba tragically lost his life when his helicopter crashed while retrieving water from Slave Lake.

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Voices from the Front Line

If our 1400 men and women from Calgary Fire Services were lined up on that road...if you told us it was coming...and if we had every apparatus ready to go, we could not have stopped that fire. It was unprecedented. It was unstoppable.

Wildfires are certainly not uncommon in northern Alberta. In the spring of 2011 there were 146 recorded in the Lesser Slave River area alone. In most cases, these fires are kept at bay by Alberta Sustainable Resource Development (SRD). In this instance, however, winds reaching 100km/h made suppression next to impossible.

Flames spread incredibly quickly and bypassed barriers put in their way by fire crews. Glowing embers were carried up to fifteen kilometers. Water bombers and helicopters were eventually grounded due to extreme winds and excessive chop in the nearby lake. All pre-existing man-made checks and balances were thwarted by the elements. In the words of Calgary Fire Services Public Information Officer Brian McAsey: "If our 1400 men and women were lined up on that road, if you told us it was coming, and if we had every apparatus ready to go, we could not have stopped that fire. It was unprecedented. It was unstoppable."

"It was incredibly windy that day. My husband and I were doing yard work when we saw the first water bomber fly over."

The toll of this catastrophe continues to be calculated. But despite one of the largest displacements of residents in Alberta's history, and despite the tragic loss of homes and businesses, common accounts from those on the ground are immense pride in the people of Lesser Slave River, and sheer amazement that not a single life was lost to the flames.

Facts & Figures

01 On May 14, 2011, two separate fires burned within the MD. A third fire would begin the next day.

09 In total, almost 750 individuals and families in the area lost their homes.

10 The crisis was designated a level four emergency; the highest possible designation that involves a sustained government-wide response.

Voices from the Front Line

A lot happened in the first few days. Things came at us pretty fast and just didn't stop. I cannot begin to express my gratitude and pride in the resourcefulness of the MD employees and elected officials during this catastrophic event. Had we not had the strong working relationship before the fire, things could have easily run off the tracks at multiple points.

During any type of environmental crisis, the very first consideration is people. Stationed at the MD Office and comprised of Councillors and municipal employees, the Emergency Operations Centre stood at the ready to alert residents of the approaching disaster. To those making phone calls or knocking on doors, there was a delicate balance at play: communicate the gravity and convey a sense of urgency, but remain calm and don't allow panic to take root.

Public response tends to vary when faced with something as unprecedented as a natural disaster, and on the weekend of May 14, communities within Lesser Slave River were no different. Some knew it was coming and had already begun to pack. Others doubted that a forest fire would reach their town unchecked. Many were oblivious to the event until they received a phone call from the MD (which by then had turned into the EOC). Before long, however, one only had to look to the sky to appreciate the magnitude of the situation.

"We saw a large black cloud and we thought 'this is something we've never seen before.' And then we saw fire dropping out of the sky."

Some communities in the paths of the looming fires were put on a two-hour evacuation notice, giving residents time to pack, prepare, steel themselves emotionally and wait. During this time frame, Sustainable Resource Development was working to establish a trigger point; a point at which the fires would become unmanageable and evacuation would become necessary. On Saturday, the first trigger point was reached, and at a second one at noon on Sunday. Each time, affected residents were forced to leave their homes and most of their belongings behind.

Facts & Figures

01 The Lesser Slave River wildfires caused one of the largest displacements of residents in Alberta's history.

02 Roughly 400 residents were evacuated from the MD of Lesser Slave River on the evening of May 14.

03 By noon on Sunday May 15, more than 1600 Lesser Slave residents were evacuated from the area.

04 In total, 732 families in the Lesser Slave River region lost their homes to the flames.

05 In the span of six days, the ARC rescued more than 300 animals left behind during the evacuation.

06 Collectively, the three mid-May wildfires consumed close to 22 thousand hectares, or the equivalent of 44 thousand football fields.

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Voices from the Front Line

As neighbours and friends, the whole community pitched in that night. Putting up strangers in their homes, and over the next two weeks volunteering to cook, clean, and help with donated items at the hall. For the two week evacuation, our small community opened their hearts their homes, and volunteered as well, to meet the need.

Darren Fulmore, Councillor

Subcategories

MD of Lesser Slave River

Just a few hours due north of Edmonton, Lesser Slave River is a truly unique place to live, work and play. From breathtaking expanses of boreal forest and unspoiled natural wonders to a thriving economy and genuine work/life balance, opportunities abound. Here you'll discover a place of rugged beauty. A place of real people. A place you'll never want to leave.